"All the trees of the field will clap their hands" Isaiah 55:12

Every January, our entire staff takes a few days together to strengthen our relationships with each other and with God, to read, pray and worship together, and to play and have fun.  We have just returned from our staff retreat, and I am so excited to share with you what we are learning and doing.

Our retreat took place at a huge cabin in the Texas hill country, far from the city and surrounded by undulating, cactus-covered hills.  Each morning of the retreat, I rose and crept quietly out of the house to go for a walk.  The crisp winter air sparkled with the shine of the rising sun as I followed meandering trails through scrub forests and across dry stream beds.  This time was sacred to me.  I experienced God's glory in the beauty of his creation.  This creation is lovely and fearsome; that glittering sun illuminates both the red fruit and the sharp spines of the local cacti.

In preparation for our retreat, each staff member read The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson.  In the book, Peterson describes two arenas of prayer.  One is the quiet and personal prayer many of us are accustomed to.  We close our eyes, bow our heads, and imagine ourselves alone with God.  The other is what Peterson calls "praying with eyes open."  We look around at God's creation and pray aloud together with that creation, embracing the Spirit that permeates the rejuvenating rain shower as well as the hurricane.  As I hiked the trails around our retreat cabin, I prayed with my eyes open.

A nature walk selfie.  I wish this picture could show how cold I was!

The Contemplative Pastor also inspired our staff to embrace poetry.  Pastors, Peterson argues, should revere the power of language and use it with the expert care of a poet.  Poetry, after all, is how the prophets and psalmists of old conveyed God's messages to his people.  Why then have we abandoned this practice?  And if Christ himself is the Word, who are we to use words without careful thought?

Each of our staff members brought a poem to the retreat.  Some of us chose a poem that we found meaningful in our ministry; others wrote their own poems.  I shared T.S. Eliot's "Journey of the Magi" (you can find the text here).  This poem reminds me of a deep truth about Jesus: after an encounter with him, no one can walk away unchanged.  The magi of the poem make a hard journey over rough terrain, sometimes regretting leaving their plush homes.  After finding the child and returning to their homeland, one of those wise men reflects: "...no longer at east here, in the old dispensation, / with an alien people clutching their gods. / I should be glad of another death."  The change in his life is so drastic that it feels to him like death.

As I celebrate God's creation and reflect on the transformations he has wrought in me, I feel my energy growing.  I can't keep this to myself.  I am so ready for another semester of introducing our students to this Jesus who will not allow them to walk away unchanged.  And we have an exhilarating event right around the corner that will help us do just that: Winter Camp 2015!

Winter Camp is a long weekend retreat for our students.  It's packed full of wise teaching, worship, and time to build deep spiritual friendships.  Our speaker this year is Dr. Iain Provan, an engaging lecturer and eminent scholar of the Old Testament.  Many of our students, as well as most of our staff, have listened to audio recordings of his classes at Regent College and enjoyed learning from him.  We are all excited to welcome him in person to our Winter Camp.  I will tell you more about how it goes in my next update.

As we begin the spring semester, I ask for your prayers.  Please pray that our Winter Camp helps our students learn and grow in Christ.  Pray that we have good weather and that all participants travel safely to the camp.  Please pray also for all of our staff as we continue to work diligently toward the goals God has given us.

Thank you for your prayers and support that allow me to continue doing what God has called me to.  I also want to thank all of you who donated to the #FOCUS140 campaign; we have raised over $29,000, and some donations are still coming in!  This money will allow us to broaden our reach to more students on more campuses and keep making disciples.  Thank you!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 100:4

Happy Thanksgiving!  We've just celebrated one of my favorite holidays.  I love that people from many faiths and cultures join together on this American holiday to give thanks.  I give thanks first and foremost to my God who made me, saves me, and guides me daily.  I give thanks also for every blessing He has given me, including incredible people like you.  I thank each of you who has prayed for me or contributed to FOCUS, because your support empowers us to reach students with the good news.  Your prayers and gifts help us introduce people to Jesus, and no one can remain the same after meeting Him.

During this season of celebration and giving, I ask that you would consider making a special gift to FOCUS.  We have launched our first annual Keep FOCUS Growing Initiative to fund our continued expansion across the Metroplex.  Our sights are set on UT Arlington and North Texas Central College.  With your help, we can plant FOCUS communities on those campuses in the fall semester of 2015.  Please watch the video below, made by some of our talented student leaders, to see more of what we're already doing and how you can help:

Click here to read more and make a donation.  Whether or not you are able to contribute to this special initiative, please pray for FOCUS and our continued growth.  Pray that God would open doors for us on these campuses.  Pray that He would position our staff members strategically to reach these students.  Pray that He would send generous supporters who believe in this mission and will give extravagantly to keep it going.

I am excited about planting FOCUS on these new campuses because I have seen firsthand how campus ministry changes lives.  In the past month, I've had challenging conversations with a few young women who are considering changing their lives by choosing to follow Jesus.  One student I've been meeting with, let's call her J, is hesitant to believe what the Scripture teaches, but her boundless curiosity keeps her coming to our meetings.  Her questions about God are deep and thoughtful.  I find myself frequently answering with, "I don't know," or "I've never thought of that."  Thank God that the Spirit speaks through me when I don't have the right words to say.  J may not get all the answers she is looking for, but I am confident that God will reward her curiosity with a knowledge of Him that transcends understanding.

I am also excited about the expansion of FOCUS because the life change that happens in our communities doesn't stop at graduation.  On a Sunday afternoon in November, we held our first FOCUS alumni reunion.  We invited alumni from all of our campuses to join together in the home of one of our generous supporters.  About ninety people arrived to reconnect with old friends, celebrate the continued growth of FOCUS, and eat some delicious food prepared for us by Debbie.  It was clear to me after this event that God is still at work in the lives of so many people who have been involved in our ministry.  The people who gathered together that day are a testament to the goodness of God; many of them are now parents and professionals, artists, teachers, managers, husbands and wives who strive to honor God daily in every aspect of their lives.  Some have lived through tragedy since we were last in touch, but all of them can say that God has been faithful.  Two UTD alumni who were not able to attend the reunion are featured this month on our updates page.  Read how Brittany & Kevin have been changed by their time in FOCUS by clicking here, and listen to their new album by clicking here.  Brittany and I were in Core and Chamber Singers together at UTD.

As we move into the Christmas season, I pray that you would spend this time remembering the first Christmas gift that God gave us: His son Jesus.  Spend some time with the people who mean the most to you, and don't let the hustle and bustle of the holidays distract you from the true meaning of Christmas.  Please pray that our students can do the same.  The next time you will hear from me on this blog will be in January, so Merry Christmas and Thank You!

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24

Thank you all for your prayers, donations, and continued support for what God is doing through campus ministry!  October was a busy month of starting new friendships and celebrating old ones, and now we are preparing for some exciting events during the second half of Fall Semester.

At the beginning of October, I busily prepared for the wedding of two dear friends, Danni and Ryan.  I've mentioned Danni in my blog before, but just to remind you, she came to the US as an international student from China.  I met Ryan when we were both students in FOCUS.  I introduced Ryan and Danni, and they started dating pretty quickly.  They went through Pre-Engagement Counseling together, where they worked through marriage issues ranging from family roles to sex to money.  In FOCUS and our churches, we encourage couples who have been dating exclusively for a while and considering marriage to go through this counseling with an older, married couple as their guide.  We do it "pre-engagement" instead of "pre-marital" because this allows the couple to really consider these serious issues before a ring has been bought, a date has been set, and the stress of planning a wedding has set in.  Anyway, Ryan & Danni celebrated their marriage in a beautiful, intimate ceremony that I got to share with them.  I rejoice to know that each of them has married someone fully committed to following Christ, because the Lord is the only trustworthy foundation for a marriage, or truly for a life at all.

Two of my dearest friends got married in October!

October was also a big month for the International Friendship Partner Program.  This program pairs international students from UTD with Americans who are out of school.  The partners get together regularly to share their cultures with each other and develop a meaningful friendship.  Holidays like Halloween are an exciting part of American culture that we get to share with these international students, so we held a Pumpkin Carving Party for them.  It was a new experience for most of the students and a fun time for the Friendship Partners to get to know each other.  Carving a pumpkin may seem silly to those of us who are inundated with Halloween-themed products and advertisements every October, but it can become a cherished memory for someone who is experiencing this American tradition for the first time.

 

Two Chinese students carving a pumpkin for the first time

Some of our American Friendship Partners, Ken and Ann, also hosted a group of Americans and internationals at their home for an American-style potluck dinner.  We brought classic American dishes, like mac-and-cheese and meatloaf, to share with students from around the world.  After dinner, we played board games together and had a great time.  Thanks Ann and Ken for opening your home to these young people and showing them what a real American family can be!

On October 25, all of the FOCUS campuses, along with our three churches in Garland, Wylie, and Denton, met together for our annual Leadership Conference.  Anyone who leads in worship, in small groups, in Cores, or in one-on-one studies was invited to this event.  I was amazed to see how many people showed up and declared their intention to be leaders in our kingdom mission!  Our theme for the day was Vision.  Different speakers from our churches and campuses shared how they caught the vision for ministry and how we can effectively share that vision with others.  It was an inspiring day spent together with some amazing leaders.  We ended the day by sharing our prayers for God to inspire us with His vision and clear away the barriers that keep us from pursuing that vision.

One of our interns, Sarah, shared a poem at the Leadership Conference.

A Leadership Conference selfie with interns Cody and Rachel

Finally, in October I shared an accomplishment with another FOCUS staff member, Melissa: we finished a half marathon together!  It was a challenge for both of us, but facing challenges makes us stronger.  It was also a great time to talk and laugh with my wonderful sister in Christ.

Mile 9 and still going strong!

Thanks to all of you for your love and encouragement as we strive to make disciples on our campuses.  Please pray for us as we plan our upcoming events and continue to reach out and teach students to follow Jesus.

"Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day... They are not just idle words for you - they are your life." Deuteronomy 32:46-47

Thank you to each of you who has prayed for the Focus ministry.  God has honored your petitions by blessing our staff and students immensely.  Without His continued grace, we would be without purpose and without hope.  But because of God's great love for us, He directs us on a path that leads toward our blessed hope of His coming kingdom.

Students at our UTD Fall Camp

God's kingdom is growing on our campuses thanks to God's blessing and the hard work of our students, interns, and staff.  Pictured above are all the students who attended UTD's Fall Camp on the last weekend of September.  Fall Camp is a 24-hour overnight camp where we give our students a chance to strengthen and solidify the friendships they have started in the first four or five weeks they've been on campus.  The emphasis for this weekend is not as much on preaching or teaching, but on deepening spiritual relationships.  As a staff, we believe that meaningful life change is forged in relationships with other Spirit-filled people more than it ever will be through hard-hitting sermons.  That's why we invest a weekend in getting these students together at a campground to talk, eat snacks, play games, and spend time worshiping God shoulder-to-shoulder with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Last year, some crazy weather issues prevented us from having an event like Fall Camp.  This year, we are especially grateful that God answered our prayers with comfortable temperatures and plenty of sunshine!

Group games at camp led by Ana (foreground, left) and Autumn (foreground, right)

Some of our beautiful UTD girls.  From left to right: Layla, Kimberly, Racquel, and Savannah

Being a part of the Focus staff is not just about fun and games with college students.  Our staff, and especially our interns, are serious students of God and His word.  This semester, I am joining the interns in a twelve week class covering the entire Old Testament.  There is not nearly enough time in this class to examine the individual texts in depth, but we are taking a bird's eye view approach to understanding the foundational themes that recur throughout the Old Testament.  Through this class, I am getting to know our interns better as we learn together.  At first, the Old Testament seemed dry and daunting to some of my classmates.  The textbook we are using, a graduate-level overview that analyzes various theories of the composition and redaction of each Old Testament book, also presents challenges to our group; we have one intern who studied literature in graduate school, but our other interns mostly majored in subjects far removed from ancient Near Eastern history or exegetical literary analysis.  As we move through this class and the intellectual challenges we are facing, the questions we ask are changing.  At first, some of us whined, "Why is this important?  Does it even matter?" but now, we are asking, "How does this affect our understanding of biblical inspiration?  How can this be incorporated into our ministry to college students?"  Please pray that our interns learn a deep appreciation and fuller understanding of the Bible through this class, and that it equips them to share the truth of God with students they meet on campus.

Christians (along with Jews) have long been referred to as "people of the book."  It is because of that book, the Bible, that our faith has endured and been passed down through generations.  That book is a collection of letters, poems, visions, and stories that tell the broader story of God's interaction with His people.  That book offers up simple truths that can be easily digested and understood by a casual reader, but it also contains deep mysteries that demand careful interpretation and study.  I believe that to truly live up to our title of people of the book, we must take the Bible seriously enough to study it and allow it to change our minds and our lives.  Reading an excerpt as a daily devotional may serve to remind the believer of the foundations which he has already been taught, but the casual reader will miss out on the rich complexity that demonstrates the sophistication and devotion of the original writers of scripture.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

I am excited this month to begin that type of study with a new friend, Wei.  She was born in China and moved here to the US in January for graduate studies in Marketing.  A Christian family opened their home to her upon her arrival and hosted her until she found an apartment and got settled in to her new life.  From them and other Christians they introduced her to, she learned that there is a God who loves her and a Jesus who wants to save her.  Now, I have the honor of studying the Bible with Wei and showing her more about who that Jesus really is.  During our first meeting, we looked over the table of contents in her Bible, and I told her about all the different types of literature there and the long history found within those pages.  She thanked me and said that she was very grateful to have someone to help her, because she had tried to read the Bible on her own but struggled to make sense of what she was reading.  Please pray for Wei as I continue to meet with her and encourage her to follow Jesus.

I want to thank each of you who prays for me or for our Focus students, and each of you who donates regularly to support our staff.  You are a blessing from God.  In the words of Paul to the Philippians, "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Love one another, for love is of God.

August has been a whirlwind of activity, and September shows no signs of slowing down.  Students are on campus, classes have started, and Cores will begin this week.  All our preparation has been leading up to this moment, when our interns and student leaders reach out to new people on campus and share the Gospel with them.

Our Focus table at the International Student Organization Fair

Jalen, a Focus Corefa, meeting some new international students

One of my favorite outreach projects each summer is assisting UTD's International Student Services Office by providing transportation to newly arrived international students.  I recruit student volunteers who drive to the airport to meet the new arrivals and take them to their new homes on campus or at the surrounding apartments.  Our students in Focus love having the opportunity to be the first American these new students meet face-to-face.  It gives us the chance to serve people who are in a daunting situation, and it allows us to reach out and make an initial connection with someone who might be open to talking about their spiritual beliefs.  

This year, some of the arriving flights had so many new students on board that all of their luggage could not even fit on the buses UTD sent for them.  That's when UTD called on Focus to provide volunteers to drive U-Haul trucks to transport the luggage.  I drove the truck for two flights, and Sirak, our worship pastor at UTD, drove the truck for another flight.  I know our contribution made a difference to those new students and the university staff who work to serve them.

Once the new international students are situated in their new homes, most of them are eager to get involved and make new friends on campus.  The pictures above are from an organization fair for international students.  Every summer, ICF (International Christian Fellowship) hosts this event and invites other Christian groups to participate.  It's a valuable opportunity to meet the new students and invite them to our events.  Please pray with me that each of these new international students would meet at least one sincere disciple during their time here in the USA.  Many of these students come from countries that are hostile to the Gospel, so their time here is a precious chance for us to reach them with Christ's love.

There are so many wonderful things going on at each of our campuses, but I also want to tell you about our interns.  They have had a challenging and rewarding first month of their internship.

From left to right: Kaitlyn, Miriam, Cody, and Sarah

The first major assignment that the interns must complete is reading the entire Old Testament.  They had nine days at the beginning of August to devote to their reading.  The interns spent eight hours each day at the church building reading through the Bible and some supplementary materials.  This assignment is challenging, but each of our interns has found it extremely valuable for their own thought and spiritual growth.  Cody, who will tell you himself he has never been much of a reader, expressed to Brandon how meaningful he found his reading.  He said that as he got a grasp of the broad sweep of Hebrew history, he found himself yearning for the Messiah along with our Israelite forebears.  I think there is tremendous value in reading the scripture in large portions.  God has used stories to communicate the truth about Himself since the beginning.  Reading the scripture to understand these stories is a first step to understanding God.

After their reading days, the interns celebrated with a pool party (pictured above).  This was a fun time to relax and mentally prepare for the hard work of Welcome Week.  Thank you Mr. and Mrs. West (Kaitlyn's parents) for graciously hosting this party for us!

Welcome Week is always a busy, stressful, exciting time for our interns and student leaders.  They did an amazing job of welcoming new and returning students to their campuses and meeting many new friends.

Between Welcome Week and the first meetings of Core, we took our student leaders on a 24-hour retreat in Denton.

These leaders are ready to build God's kingdom on our campuses!

The retreat was a time of training and preparation.  We ask our Corefas (Core Facilitators) to make a demanding commitment.  Not only do they lead their weekly group meetings, but they must meet and invite people to join their Cores, study the Bible one-on-one with many of those students, and plan their Cores in conjunction with a partner.  All of the students pictured above have risen to that challenge, and our retreat gave them the encouragement they needed to get started.  To be honest, I spent much of the retreat in the kitchen with Debbie, Mandy, and Glenn making sure our leaders were well fed.  Although it was exhausting for me, it was an honor to serve these outstanding young men and women of God.  They are taking full advantage of the special opportunity they have as college students, and I am so proud of their enthusiasm and boldness as they share Jesus with their classmates.  Pray with me that they would be faithful to the calling God has given them this year and that their love would touch many lives.

At the retreat, we sang a worship hymn called The Greatest Commandments.  It has a four part harmony that sounded so beautiful as we sang together, but the words had the most impact:  "Love one another, for love is of God.  He who does not love does not know God.  God is love, God is love, God is love."

My prayer is that our love for God and for each other would be faithful and strong.  Thank you for the love you show our Focus students by praying for them and financially supporting our ministry.

August: Time to get started!

Our Focus staff has just returned from our retreat in Sulphur, Oklahoma.  It was three days of fellowship, fun, and preparation for the coming year of ministry.  We have two opportunities every year to get away together for a long weekend like this, one in August and one in January.  Our August retreat is especially important because it’s our first chance to officially welcome our new interns and staff members to our team.  We welcomed nine new interns and one administrative member, all of whom will be valuable assets to the Focus staff and powerful ministers for God’s kingdom.  During our retreat, we shared stories about our lives, both funny and serious, and got to know each other much better.  Here are some tidbits I learned about our new interns:  Matt B is extremely ticklish, Miriam knows every Disney movie character, and Christian plays badminton with a unique grace and style.  

Two of our new interns, Kaitlyn and Miriam, enjoying some free time during our retreat.

Our retreat was obviously a lot of fun, but it served the crucial purpose of preparing us to work cooperatively as a team.  Without a basis of friendship, trust, and mutual respect, we would be severely limited in our potential accomplishments.  As we build our team spirit around a common mission of making and maturing disciples, we prepare ourselves to work together to do new, challenging, and deeply meaningful ministry on our campuses.

In addition to getting to know each other and building our team, we also spent much of our retreat time discussing the values and principles that we share as a staff and that we want to disseminate to the students of Focus.  We use Leadership Axioms by Bill Hybels as a resource in many of our staff meetings, and from it we have adopted the axiom, “Language matters.”  Words are our primary form of communication and have tremendous power to do both harm and good.  

Keeping in mind the importance of our words, we spent much of our meeting time over the summer choosing a theme phrase for the new school year.  This year, we have chosen “Words of Life.”  This theme will be printed on our t-shirts and advertising media, and it will guide sermon topics at Friday nights and special events.  We chose “Words of Life” for many reasons, and soon you will be able to read about that theme on our main page.  For now, I will tell you in my own words:  We chose “Words of Life” because God’s words give life and guide our lives.  The Father spoke a word and created the universe.  Jesus Christ was called the Word.  At his word, storms were stilled, demons vanquished, and the dead raised to life.  Throughout history, God has communicated to his people through words, spoken and written, and he continues to speak to us through the words of the Bible.  Words are powerful, and the words of God are the most powerful ever spoken.

Soon we will be meeting new students on our campuses as they move into residence halls and attend their first day of classes.  Our hope is that disciples of Jesus will speak words of life to these new students, share truth with them, and welcome them into the kingdom of God.  These first few weeks of class will be a vitally important opportunity to reach students before they become settled in with their friend groups and bogged down with classes.  During Welcome Week and a short time following, students are open to meeting new friends, exploring new ideas, and joining new organizations.  

Please pray specifically for these needs:

- Pray that our Focus students would make the most of this rare opportunity to meet and befriend the thousands of new students coming to our campuses.

- Pray that students arriving on our campuses would have open minds and hearts to hear the words of life that the Spirit of God wants them to hear this school year.

- Pray that Focus as an organization would have positive relationships with the staff and faculty of all the campuses where we meet.  Without their favor, we would not be able to do anything that we do on campus.

Our staff: some of the hardest working, brightest, and most dedicated people I know!

I am looking forward to an amazing year working with our highly skilled and enthusiastic ministers, interns, and students.  None of this would be possible without the prayers and financial support of people like you, so I give you my sincere thanks!  If you’re not a supporter yet, I ask you to consider investing in Focus and enabling us to reach students on college campuses all around DFW.

"On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations."

My friend Cal and I have had long gaps in our friendship since we met in high school.  Recently, we spent some time together catching up and talking about the past few years.  Cal is not a Christian, but he has respect for and sincere interest in my faith.  After we talked about what I do, he asked me, "What are some of your hobbies or interests that are not related to your religion?"

At the moment, it was difficult for me to come up with an answer to Cal's question.  I told him there is really very little I do that is not somehow influenced by what I believe about God.  The more I have thought about this question, the more I realize how much the Spirit has infiltrated every aspect of my life.  Some things are obvious: when I go to church or to Focus, my purpose is directly related to what I think God wants me to do.  Others are less obvious: when I work in my garden, I think about God walking in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  I think about the instructions Yahweh gave to the Israelites to decorate his Temple with lampstands shaped like trees and pomegranates embroidered on the curtains.  I think about how Jesus retreated to the garden of Gethsemane as he prepared himself for his death.  I think about the image in Revelation of a main street lined with beautiful trees whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.  When I plant flowers and pull weeds in the garden, I'm not just passing time or entertaining myself.  I'm connecting to God and experiencing the beauty of his beloved creation with my own hands.  It's easy, when we go too long without getting a little dirt under our fingernails, to forget that God formed our forebears out of the dust of the earth.  God loves beauty and he loves his creation.

The Spirit of God permeates his creation and all his people within it.  I realize that truth and allow it to shape my life more and more every day.  If you call Jesus your Lord, my hope is that you would have no boundaries to limit the work of God in and through your life.

Right now, I and the rest of the Focus staff are raising funds to support our ministry for the coming school year.  It would be easy to say that fundraising is something separate from ministry; that money is something crude and mundane, so asking for it couldn't possibly be spiritual.  I have found that is is simply not true.  Fundraising is a way to minister to potential donors even as it enables us to minister to students.

This enlightened view of fundraising has become so clear to me through my meetings with Rachel.  Rachel is an upcoming intern, and I am her fundraising coach.  We have been meeting about every two weeks so I can hear how she is doing, pray for her, and advise her.  Rachel has come to our meetings with so much enthusiasm for this part of her internship and many exciting stories about the people she has contacted.  She isn't just looking for someone to send her money; she's looking for a way to share the gospel with people she may not see or talk to very often.  She told me one story of calling some old family friends.  The husband had been a pastor when Rachel knew him, but during a conversation with his wife, she found out that he has left ministry and has been struggling with even believing in God any more.  Rachel saw this as an opportunity to minister to a family that is hurting deeply.  If she hadn't made the call to ask this couple to support her during her internship, she would never have known how much they need her prayers and encouragement.

Rachel, who will start her internship August 1

As I raise support this summer, I hope to have the same attitude as Rachel.  Every person I talk to is God's beloved child and worthy of my care.  I am a college minister, but that doesn't restrict me to ministering only to college students.

Speaking of college students, I'm sure you want to know what is going on with them!  Over the summer, we have been meeting each Thursday at Lifepoint Church in Plano.  This church has graciously welcomed us to use their facility, and we have been so blessed by it!  Thank you Lifepoint Church!

Students worshiping God at Summer Focus

Each week, we have heard a sermon from a different speaker.  One of my favorite parts of Summer Focus is this opportunity to hear so many different voices from across our campuses and from people outside of Focus who contribute in significant ways.  I invite you to join us each Thursday night this summer.  Come out and see these students whose lives have been changed by Jesus!